Ultra Resources Inc., the Houston-based company that bought 18,000 acres of the Banning Lewis Ranch in October, filed permits with the state last week to drill two wells on the sprawling property, despite a six-month drilling moratorium enacted by the city of Colorado Springs.
It’s the first step Ultra has taken to drill within city limits. The company already plans to conduct exploratory drilling for oil and gas on three to four sites in unincorporated areas of El Paso County early next year.
Ultra filed its applications with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Dec. 15, but several processes must play out before they can be approved. There’s a 10-day completeness review, followed by a 20-day comment period, said Margaret Ash, manager of the commission’s field inspection group. She was in Colorado Springs on Wednesday night for a public meeting to explain the state’s oil-and-gas regulatory procedures. About 20 people attended the meeting.
The commission has up to 75 days to issue or deny the Banning Lewis drilling requests. If the state approves the permit, it is unclear how the moratorium would affect Ultra’s ability to begin operations before it expires at the end of May.
“Our position is the moratorium stands,” said Steve Cox, Mayor Steve Bach’s chief of staff. “Other than that, we just have to see how it plays out.”
But Howard Boigon, a Denver attorney hired by the city of Colorado Springs to provide guidance through the drilling regulation process, was less certain about the moratorium’s role.
“I don’t think we know yet,” he said. “We’re in the early stages of dealing with all this.”
From documents filed with the commission, one of Ultra’s proposed wells appears to be just southwest of Colorado 94 and Meridian Road. The other is just northwest of U.S. 24 and Meridian.
